diff --git a/.github/workflows/release.yml b/.github/workflows/release.yml
index 4b72ec4..36b515a 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/release.yml
@@ -36,7 +36,9 @@ jobs:
       - name: Build pmm
         run: |
           mkdir -p out
-          ${{ matrix.cc }} -O2 -Wall -static -std=c11 -o out/pmm${{ matrix.ext }} \
+          VER=${{ github.ref_type == 'tag' && github.ref_name || 'dev' }}
+          VER=${VER#v}
+          ${{ matrix.cc }} -O2 -Wall -static -std=c11 -DPMM_VERSION=\"$VER\" -o out/pmm${{ matrix.ext }} \
             src/main.c src/json.c src/ini.c src/pmm.c src/http.c src/repo.c src/install.c \
             src/sha256.c src/sha1.c src/mirrors.c src/pdm.c
 
diff --git a/src/pmm.h b/src/pmm.h
index 996bd40..2659dd7 100644
--- a/src/pmm.h
+++ b/src/pmm.h
@@ -13,6 +13,10 @@ void pmm_add_to_path(void);
  * clears back to the user-home default. Persisted across runs. */
 void pmm_set_install_drive(const char *letter);
 
+/* Set the install location to an exact absolute path (e.g. "D:\apps\pmm" or
+ * "/opt/pmm"). Config/cache/bin/root all live under it. Empty clears back. */
+void pmm_set_install_path(const char *path);
+
 /* File-association record written to the per-user registry on install. */
 typedef struct {
     const char *progid;    /* e.g. "Node.JSFile" */
@@ -41,7 +45,9 @@ void pmm_reg_uninstall_clear(const char *pkg);
 void pmm_set_self_path(const char *argv0);
 const char *pmm_self_path(void);
 
-#define PMM_VERSION "0.1.0"
+#ifndef PMM_VERSION
+#define PMM_VERSION "0.1.0"   /* overridden at build time with -DPMM_VERSION="..." */
+#endif
 
 typedef enum { OS_WINDOWS, OS_LINUX, OS_MACOS, OS_UNKNOWN } PmmOS;